Wheel suspension for trailers



Nov. 27, 1951 BUSH 2,576,824

I WHEEL SUSPENSION FOR TRAILERS Filed Feb. 21, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet VII f r a o .INVENTOR.

EAN LEE BUSH ATORNEY Nov. 27, 1951 E. BUSH WHEEL SUSPENSION FOR TRAILERS 3 Sheets$heet 2 Filed Feb. 21, 1947 f 1 .i -l- Fl G. 5

Fl G. 7

.FIG. 6

FIG.8

INVENTOR EA/V LEE BUSH A T O R N E Y Nov. 27, 1951 E. BUSH WHEEL SUSPENSION FOR TRAILERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

Filed Feb. 21, 1947 EA NCL EE BUSH FIG.3

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 27, 1951 'um'rso STATES PATENT QFEICE 2 Cla ms invention. relates to wheel suspension for trailers and the like.

The primary object of the inventionis topic.

v-ide an adiustable support for the wheels of a traileror the like comparatively light structure, wherein the respective. wheels are allowed to con.-v form to unevenness on the. road and-itefilllt; asmooth level riding of the. trailers The features of myinvention includes, the sup porting of'the wheel on an element: pivotedat one end andresiliently held in position at the; other end so as. to allow the swinging, oi th lement with the wheel. and thereby allow seisadiust ment of the wheel to unevenness of the road;- another feature is the supporting of this element on the frame of the vehicle. or trailer in such away as to allow the adjustment of the wheels together or separately and to operate both as a shock absorber and a. self-adjustment for unevenness on the road; another feature of the invention is to provide for a. simple mount ng: for the he whereby in. certain. i stan es uni rsel adj st mentof the w elii a c rda c th u e ne s of the road is obtainable n the reof th inventi nis the provisi of wheels nport whic is simple n: ons ucti n a d can. e read mounted and. a ied d th -f amed a er or" the. like- Ano her o j t th s ven i n. is to pro ide awheel suspension for trailers or the like which ishiehly useful and simp e co struc n. Convenience of arrangement, lightness and corrlpama-w tive inexpensiveness are further objects which have been borne in mind in the-production and de opment of the-inven ion,

The essential features of the invention in: volvedin the carrying out of the obiectsindiettt: ed'are, susceptible to modification, but a preferred embodiment of the, invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Fig. l is a perspective View of one form of wheel suspension as applied to. the frame of a trail er;-

Fig. 2 is; afrasmental detail view, partly. in sec! hon. sh wi g the s lie t mount n of an e of the wheel support;

3 is: disfictional view of the resilient mounting. the section being taken on lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional detailv-iewof the universal mounting of the pivoted end of the wheel suspension arm;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another form of the adjustablewheel suspension on a frame;

Fig. 6 is a fra mental detail view showing-the resil n mou tin of the w el us ion;

Fi '1 is. a. detail viewer th endi h v i t arm. for the wheelsuspe s on;

Fig. 8. is a sectional fragmental view showing the pivoted end, of said suspensionarm;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of another modified form of the wheel suspension on a frame; ljigulo is a sectional view of the pivoted end oi the; suspension arm of saidsecond ngodjfied form: I

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the pivoted end of sa d. su ensio od n sa d sec nd mo fied form;

Bis;- 12 is a. sec n l. iew o h r si i n mo n o th Wh e a d ond modified za ec iona View o sa d susp ns on,

on the line l$. of F g; 13-. the term of the ent on ho n Figs-- 1 94; in l sive. he. f m o h tr i r: r he ehi e is. ndica d by he r e mb rs l.- S-peced. ack ts Z and 3 tend. fr m ea h side 9! th imme. Whee s p rting ar 4 is swinsably p r e at at ne end; theme-i an is. re ie t y s t b e n a spring d n device I at the other end thereof. Substantiallvin rmediate t en the ends of he; ending arm 4 is provided a suitable bearing 8 in which is held the axle or shaft 9 of the wheel .H-. In the; present illustration in this form the wheels are ,so-called double wheels in which a wheel and tire is mounted on. each side of the bearing 8' of the armA. The supporting joint 5 at the pivoted end of the arm 4 is a suitable construction for universal adjustment of the arm namely to al: low the turning of the arm around its axis as well as the downward and upward movement of the other end of the arm around said pivot. In this form the pivot joint 6 is a suitable ball and socket joint. A retainer 12- with a spherical socket, is therein is mounted, on the bracket 2 preferably at the end of the arm 4 in the :diIBGrtionof forward movement of thevehicle. In this spherical socket L3 is held a ball M which. is fixed on the pivoted end of the arm l as shown in Fig, 4,

The.- es lienc i t e m vement of the. arm. A is a comp shed by t e esilient guide and su porting device 1 on the other bracket 3, In this illustrative embodiment this includes an arcuate tube H5 which extends from a bottom shelf 11 of the. b acke 3 upw dly o the ame I and s suitably secured in place. In the present illustratlon this guide tube I 5 is of rectangular cross section onits inside passage. Inside of this tube and resting on the shelf H is a traveling block I8 which slidablv fits in the tube having opposite arcuate sides 15 corresponding to the curvature of the guide I5. This traveling block I8; has therein spherical socket 2! to hold the pivot ball 22 which latter is secured to the movable arm- 4; In order to provide for the swing ing movement of" the 6 and of its outer end; a slot-2 3 is provided on the side of the guideflfi facing toward the arm 4 in which slot a reduced stem 24 of said ball 22 slides during the up and down movement of the arm 4-. A coil spring 28 in the tube It bears atone end'agalnst an abutment 2? insa-id tube 15. and at the farther-end against the top of the traveling block It so as to resilientlv yieldablv'urge the block I8 downwardly and thus resiliently hold the mevable end of the arm 4 in the downward: posit-ion. and urge the wheelto the road;

In operationas the trailer travels; and an? unevenness occurs on either side,- thewheel riding thereover is pushed upwardly against the action of the coil spring 26 so that the arm 4 pivots upwardly around the pivot joint 6, and,

thereby compensates for the difference of the level under the opposed sets of wheels I In the event there is an unevenness between the two tires or wheels of each set of wheels N, then the ball and socket joints at the opposite ends of the arm 4 allow a turning movement of the wheels and of the arm 4 around the axis of the arm 4 and around said ball and socket joint so as to compensate for any such angular displacement. This provides for a universal adjustment of the wheels relative to one another on the trailer so as to maintain the trailer at a level riding attitude over uneven roads or other surfaces.

In the modified form of the support shown in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, the vehicle or trailer frame 28 is indicated by three frame members. brackets 29 and 3| extend downwardly from each side of the frame 28. The bracket 29 in the forward direction with respect to the vehicle is shorter than the bracket 3| so that a suspension arm 32 is supported initially in a rearwardly and downwardly inclined position as shown. The forward and higher end of the suspension arm 32 is pivoted on a pivot 33 in bearings 34 on the.

forward bracket 29. The rear and lower end of the arm 32 has thereon an enlarged widened head 36 as particularly shown in Fig. 7. This head 36 rides in an arcuate guide 31 substantially of the type heretofore described. This guide has therein a coil spring 38 which bears at its upper end against a fixed abutment 39 in the guide 31, and at its other end downwardly against the head 36 on the rearward end of the suspension arm 32. A slot 4| on the face of the guide 37 opposite the suspension arm 32 allows the sliding of said arm up and down during the adjustment of the Wheel 42 which is rotatably mounted substantially intermediate the suspension arm 32 on an axle 43, which latter in this form extends between the opposite wheels and the opposite sides of the frame 28.

, In this modified form of the invention, the adjustment and compensation is made only by upward and downward motion, the suspension arm 32 is not universally adjustable. The pivoting of the suspension arm 32 on the pivot 33 of its forward end allows the raising and lowering of the wheels 42 so as to compensate for unevenness of the road and assure sure smooth riding. In both of the heretofore described forms, the respective guides I 6 and 31 have a removable side plate 44 thereon for facilitating the assembly of the springs and of the respective ends of the respective suspension arms.

In the second modified embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 9 to 13 inclusive, the trailer frame is indicated by the frame members 46. From each side frame member 46 extends downwardly a bracket 41, the lower portion of which is hollow. One side 48 of each bracket 47 is removable for purposes of assembly; Inside of this bracket 41 telescopes a slidable hollow projection 49 which extends upwardly from a cross arm 5|. There is one such telescopic support at each end of the cross arm 5|. From each end of the cross arm 5| extends downwardly a bearing bracket 52 between the arms of which latter is suitably journalled a wheel 53.

From the opposite ends and from the center of said cross arm 5| extend radius bars 54 which converge forwardly of the vehicle into a hub56.

Spaced 4 This hub 56 is pivoted on a transverse horizontal pivot 51 in a yoke 58. The stem 59 of said yoke 58 in turn is rotatably supported in a bearing bracket 6| mounted on a cross member 62 of said frame 46. The yoke stem 59 has thereon a collar 63 which engages a face of the bearing bracket 6| and is held in place by a suitable nut 64. In this manner the yoke is journalled around an axis substantially longitudinal with respect to the vehicle, or at right angles to the cross arm 5|.

In each telescoping support is a coil spring 66 which engages at the top an abutment 6! in the bracket 41 and at the bottom the base of the projection 49 so as to normally urge the ends of the arm 5| and the respective wheels 53 downwardly. The lower end of each bracket 47 has an inwardly turned flange 68 all around which is engaged by an outwardly turned flange 69 on the movable projection 49 so as to limit the outward telescopic movement of said projection.

In operation the wheels 53 can adjust themselves individually upwardly and the turning movement of the cross arm 5| is compensated for and transmitted by the radius bars 54 to the yoke 58 and its universal support. Thus, the two wheels are connected through the cross arm 5| and are yieldably held on the frame of the vehicle, but are universally adjustable around the support of the forward ends of the radius bars 54.

Iclaim: 1. A wheel suspension for a vehicle frame, comprising a pair of brackets extended downwardly from a side of the frame of the vehicle, a suspension arm to rotatably support a wheel, universal pivoting connecting means between one of said brackets and said arm, an arcuate guide tube on the other bracket, a traveling block in said guide universally connected to the other end of said arm for vertical displacement, and resiliently yieldable means in said guide to normally urge said block and said arm and said wheel therewith downwardly. I

2. In a wheel suspension for a vehicle frame, spaced bracket elements on a side of said vehicle, a suspension arm adapted to rotatably support a wheel, pivotal connecting means between one end of said arm and one of said bracket elements, a guide on the other bracket element adjacent the other end of said arm, a traveling block on said other end of said arm adapted to travel in said guide, and a spring in said guide normally urging said traveling block and said end of said arm downwardly, said pivotal connecting means including a universal joint and a universal joint between said traveling block and the adjacent end of said arm.

EAN LEE BUSH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS France Nov. 27,- 1937- 

